Long awaited, much anticipated, and finally here: the arrival of Jon Jones in the UFC’s heavyweight division took place Saturday night in Las Vegas. UFC 285 saw Jones take on Ciryl Gane for the promotion’s vacant heavyweight title, and while the fight wasn’t years in the making, the move up in weight was.
Easily years before he finally vacated his light heavyweight title, the calls for Jones to move up in weight had begun. Fight fans wanted to see him take on someone his own height, with his own reach— someone not named Alexander Gustafsson, anyway.
Jones instead stayed the course at 205lbs until 2020, when he made the final defense of his title against Dominick Reyes. Later that year, he stepped away from the sport, vacating the UFC’s light heavyweight championship.
He hadn’t been seen in the cage since, until Saturday arrived.
Ciryl Gane, three years younger than Jones, had a quick rise up the heavyweight ranks. Signed to the UFC in 2019 after just three pro fights, prior to the Jones fight, Gane had already held interim gold, and fought to unify the title opposite Francis Ngannou. That fight did not go his way, but Gane had a do-over against the man many feel is the greatest fighter of all time at UFC 285.
In the co-main event, Valetina Shevchenko looked to secure the eighth defense of her women’s flyweight championship. Opposite her was Alexa Grasso, who had a chance to become the third Mexican UFC champion crowned in the UFC — and the first female fighter from south of the border to win gold.
Following UFC 285, tune in for the post-fight press conference to keep up with all the latest developments. A live stream of the presser is available above.
